In the Great Gatsby, there are several similarities between F. Scott Fitzgerald and the titular character, Jay Gatsby. These similarities include wanting success despite their poor upbringing, their tumultuous relationships, wild parties, and their shared whims; like alcoholism.
From a young age, both Fitzgerald and Gatsby strived to be successful. Although Fitzgerald was unable to achieve this, he lived out his dream through Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald was never quite as successful as he wanted to be. Embittered by the feeling that he would never amount to anything, he developed an alcohol dependency. He was in and out of hospitals countless amount of times due to his “alcoholic” binges. Alcohol was Fitzgerald’s escape from the chaos around him. This translated into the pages of “The Great Gatsby” but in an entirely different way. Mr. Gatsby abstained from alcohol because his mentor and best friend, Dan Cody, was a drunk. When Cody was drunk, Gatsby was his personal assistant, cleaning up after him. So Gatsby’s anti-alcohol stance was entirely different than Fitzgerald’s pro-alcohol stance. The fact that alcohol is prominent in
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Gatsby was not very wealthy until much later in his life though. Gatsby’s borderline obsession over Daisy began five years prior to the beginning of the novel when Gatsby was stationed in Louisville. While he was in Louisville, he met Daisy Fay. She was a young heiress who mistook him for a rich man. Gatsby fell in love with her and the wealth she represented, but Daisy did not love him as much as he thought she did. After he left for the war, Daisy met and later married a man named Tom Buchanan. Daisy had built a life for herself by the time Gatsby came back to her; she got married and had a baby. He had reinvented himself, becoming a bootlegger and a businessman. He achieved half of his goal, getting the money. Now he needed to get Daisy